Manchester United: Jose Mourinho says £300m spend not enough

Last updated on 27 December 2017.From the section Man Utd1595

Match of the Day: Can Jose Mourinho complain about lack of spend at Manchester United?

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho said the £300m he has spent on his squad so far is "not enough", after their 2-2 draw with Burnley on Tuesday.

Jesse Lingard scored a late equaliser but United are 12 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.

"We are in the second year of trying to rebuild a football team that you know is not one of the best teams in the world," said Mourinho.

He added: "Manchester City buy full-backs for the price of strikers."

Mourinho was appointed United boss in May 2016 and broke the world record that summer to sign £89m midfielder Paul Pogba. He also recruited £30m defender Eric Bailly, and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan for £26.3m.

This year, United spent £75m on striker Romelu Lukaku, as well as £31m on defender Victor Lindelof and £40m for midfielder Nemanja Matic.

Title rivals City, meanwhile, bought three defenders - Kyle Walker from Tottenham for an initial £45m, Benjamin Mendy from Monaco for £52m and Danilo from Real Madrid for £26.5m - as part of a summer outlay that topped £200m.

"[Spending £300m] is not enough," said Mourinho. "The price for the big clubs is different than for the other clubs. The big historical clubs are normally punished in the market because of that history.

"The boys are doing what they can and they are doing fine."

Mourinho was asked if eight points from the past five games was good enough for a club like United.

In his response he cited Italian giants AC Milan, who sit 11th in Serie A, and European champions Real Madrid, fourth in La Liga and 14 points behind leaders Barcelona.

"When you tell a club like Man Utd, do you think Milan is not as big as us? You think Real Madrid are not as big as we are?" said Mourinho.

"I know what a big club is. One thing is a big club and another thing is a big football team. They are two different things.

"When you speak about responsibilities to win the Premier League, Tottenham doesn't have that responsibility because they are not a club with the same history as us.

"Arsenal don't have the responsibility to win it. Chelsea don't have the responsibility to win it. When you speak about big football clubs, you are speaking about the history of the club."

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1595 comments

Comment posted by D1710631116361, at 18:55 26 Dec 2017
In 2003 Mourinho said when he was at Porto and I quote " We have beaten the big spenders who pay millions of euros for one player and we have built a great team spending money doens't mean succes we have proved that" This was after he won the champions league now he says £300mil isn't enough. Shame On You Mourinho!
Comment posted by Hazardous Ed, at 18:55 26 Dec 2017
300 million isnt enough, yet it wasnt any of those 90million players that salvaged a draw today, it was Youth product Lingard. These excuses are getting ridiculous from mourinho nowadays.
Comment posted by This is England, at 18:55 26 Dec 2017
You miserable old git Mourinho,once in your life give the oppersition some credit...you deserve nothing.
Comment posted by User0532541719, at 18:59 26 Dec 2017
Hey Maureen it's not how much you spend, it's what you spend it on.

You spent £165 Million on a pair of donkeys...
Comment posted by Fat Rat, at 18:55 26 Dec 2017
Odious man, pathetic manager.

Looking forward to his sacking. Or not, because Man Utd's collapse is brilliant to watch.
Comment posted by yeah_but_no_but, at 18:56 26 Dec 2017
When asked if 8 points from 5 games was good enough, he chose to answer an entirely different question. He’d make a good MP.
Comment posted by Rogue Biscuit, at 18:58 26 Dec 2017
This man is such a disrespectful troll.
All teams have a responsibility to be successful - their fans demand it just like Man United's fans win it.
Perhaps if he chose not to play boring defensive football and made use of the resources available to him in a positive way then perhaps he wouldn't need to say such brainless things - 300 million not enough, brainless idiot..
Comment posted by oldhamblue, at 18:57 26 Dec 2017
But he always win the league in his 2nd season. hypocrite to mention City's spending when he's outspent them buying 2 of the biggest frauds in the league; the French Carlton Palmer and the Belgian wardrobe
Comment posted by AWSOP, at 19:00 26 Dec 2017
Big club, small man.
Comment posted by BC, at 19:03 26 Dec 2017
Mourn-inho at his best !
Complaining about how much MC spent on defenders instead of accepting his team wasn’t good enough today and give credit to the opposition
Comment posted by FamousBlueAndWhiteHalves, at 19:54 26 Dec 2017
Oh come on Jose , £300 million isn’t enough ? Take a look at the guy in the opposite dug out today . He manages a club with poor support , relatively little backing from his board and has to formulate tactics , with sub standard players . That’s what proper management is all about .
Comment posted by livingmercerway, at 19:10 26 Dec 2017
How dare this creature claim that his resources are insufficient to fund a “big club”that has “responsibilities “to win the EPL by contrast with Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea who do not have such a responsibility to their fans and history?
These clubs should stand aside to allow Utd to be victorious and officials should never obstruct the inexorable success of the richest club in the world!

Vile.
Comment posted by afz123, at 19:06 26 Dec 2017
United fan! But this guy complaining about money after how much he's spent just in 1 and a half season is outrageous!!! Yet not not performing up to standards!
Comment posted by koftinho, at 19:29 26 Dec 2017
£300m not enough?

Lol.
What a joke of a manager Mounrinho is.
Literally unable to build a team unless he is given unlimited resources to buy his way to it.
JM's methods are clear, buy a ready made team to bully all teams outside the top 6 and then park the bus vs the better sides and hope that is enough to win the league.
Hope he stays at Man Utd for a very long time.
Comment posted by Itsonlymyopinion, at 19:02 26 Dec 2017
Sean Dyche would make better use of £300M more than Moaninho ever could. Throwing money at something guarantees nothing.
Comment posted by D1710596420228, at 19:43 26 Dec 2017
Give Mourhino Stoke, Bournemouth or Swansea to manage and he’d soon be found out. He’s a lucky chancer. He came to prominence in what was a goldren era for Portuguese football, and he’s walked in to established huge spending clubs ever since. He spends a sackful of money then clears off. He’s never actually built a successful team.
Comment posted by Zola, at 19:46 26 Dec 2017
What an obscene individual. Cheque book manager.
Comment posted by Badloss, at 19:03 26 Dec 2017
Making himself look more deluded by the day. Clearly saying this to try and force the club to give him funds for January.

We've essentially spent the same as City so he can't complain, others take the p*** but generally the players bought are good, it's the tactics that stifle them.

Hope he leaves at the end of this season, don't even think he wants to be at the club anymore anyway.
Comment posted by Itsonlymyopinion, at 18:56 26 Dec 2017
Why doesn't the BBC open the HYS immediately after any game has finished? Always particularly slow in doing so following Man U games. Is it to let everyone cool off? We don’t need, and shouldn't have to wait for, any prejudiced BBC comments before we are able make our own contribution. Well done Burnley.
Comment posted by livingmercerway, at 19:17 26 Dec 2017
Reds, don’t say you weren’t warned! You laughed with scorn at his catastrophic behaviour at Chelsea just two years ago and now he’s your problem.
Keep him, we beg you!